In 1984, designer and lifelong Austinite Travis Klein worked the second shift at the former Whitley Printing Company building at East Third and Brazos Streets in downtown, riding his bike from West Austin with the sunset behind him. Outside of a few familiar buildings, the skyline looked almost nothing like the city we know now — but one building in particular, the…
design
Oracle Buys Out Town Lake Village Condos, With Demolition on Deck
Demolition could be on the way for the Town Lake Village condo community after a buyout of its 74 units at 1201 Tinnin Ford Road by new neighbor Oracle Corporation, which after establishing its new headquarters nearby on Lakeshore Boulevard in 2018 has rapidly expanded its presence with several parcels in the area under its control. Sources close to the deal indicate a…
Culture or Courthouse at a Historic Municipal Building in Downtown Austin
On March 24, Austin City Council will, once again, consider approving actions to permanently move the Downtown Austin Community Court to the former City Municipal Building at 124 West Eighth Street. Key downtown stakeholders, residents, property owners, and business operators oppose the proposed actions, which were postponed by city council on Dec. 2, Jan. 27…
East Austin ‘Micro-Unit’ Apartments Break Ground at Sixth and Chicon
A six-story “micro-housing” apartment project by local commercial real estate firm Watershed Development Group has officially broken ground in East Austin, bringing 60 residences to an approximately quarter-acre site at 1812 East Sixth Street. This 34,364-square-foot building, named Sixth and Chicon after the nearby intersection, features apartments ranging from 252 to 465 square feet in size — overall, the average size…
321 West Tower Breaks Ground With a New Look at Sixth and Guadalupe
The 58-floor office and apartment tower plan known as 321 West celebrated its official groundbreaking on Wednesday this week at the southeast corner of West Sixth and Guadalupe Streets in downtown Austin, even though its crackerjack development team of Ryan Companies and Tishman Speyer haven’t actually mentioned it yet — there’s been no media blitz, no hashtag, nothing. We actually respect the hell out of…
A Defunct Post Office Ponders Its Future Under Hyde Park’s All-Seeing Eye
The closing of the Hyde Park neighborhood’s “beloved” post office at 4300 Speedway sent shockwaves through one of Austin’s most charming and change-averse districts last year, with the possibility of the 1967 building’s demolition and replacement by something a few floors taller sparking a public discourse over whether the property’s owner and potential developer Blake Thompson of local firm State Street…